GNOME 3.0: Fear Not!

Does GNOME 3.0 necessarily need 3D acceleration? Do GNOME 2.0 apps run under 3.0? A website tries to provide answers to some unsettling questions.

With the change-over from GNOME 2.x to 3.0 in September 2010, many users are expecting problems similar to those of the KDE 3.x update to 4.0. GNOME developer Paul Cutler was thus compelled to issue a blog to address the issues.

The associated GNOME3Myths wiki page is now online. It tries to dispel the 3.0 myths by addressing six specific points:

Does GNOME 3.0 need more graphics power and active 3D acceleration?

Does it continue to support the current panel and the popular window manager?

Will GNOME 2.0 programs continue to work on 3.0?

Will the Nautilus file manager be completely replaced with the Activity Journal?

Will 3.0 depend on Mono?

Will all apps need to be ported to 3.0?

The wiki is being actively maintained. The entries related to the release in September are likely to grow fairly quickly, considering that the current responses in Cutler's blog still reveal a lot of uncertainties.

While the European Linux scene has been busy with KDE and Qt, a relatively unnoticed but important gathering occurred in the U.S. to determine the future of the GNOME desktop: the GNOME Boston Summit 2009.

The new Gnome appeared in March and includes improvements for both users and developers. We'll tell you about network-transparent filesystem access, improved usability, and new programs in the latest Gnome.